Month: November 2024

Samu Castillejo has become Gennaro Gattuso s first signing as Valencia head coach after completing his move from Milan.

The forward, who made just five appearances for the Rossoneri last season, has put pen to paper on a three-year deal at the Mestalla.

Castillejo is Los Che s first arrival since the appointment of Gattuso, who is only the third Italian to manage the club after Claudio Ranieri and Cesare Prandelli.

The pair reunite having worked together during Castillejo s first season at Milan in 2018-19.

Bienvenida a lo Gattuso |

— Valencia CF (@valenciacf)

The Spaniard featured regularly during his first three campaigns at San Siro; racking up 108 appearances across all competitions and scoring 10 goals.

However…

Romelu Lukaku has returned to Chelsea after the European champions signed the Belgium forward from Inter for a reported £97.5million (€115m) fee.

After winning the Champions League, Chelsea have been in the hunt to further bolster Thomas Tuchel s squad with the acquisition of a top-tier striker.

Erling Haaland was a target, but Chelsea saw their approach rebuffed by Borussia Dortmund, who are in no need to sell the Norwegian star after they brought in €85m (£72.6m) for Jadon Sancho.

Chelsea subsequently switched their focus to Lukaku, who led Inter to their first Serie A title in a decade last season, netting 24 league goals.

An initial offer was reportedly turned down but, after Lukaku – who had earlier claimed he wanted to stay at San Siro and …

Goals proved hard to come by The Hawthorns aside on a day of low-scoring games in the Premier League.

One goal was enough for Arsenal, Manchester United and Burnley to beat Brighton and Hove Albion, Wolves and Sheffield United respectively.

Meanwhile, Southampton s home meeting with West Ham finished goalless, but Leeds United clearly did not get the memo as they hit five against lowly West Brom.

Here is the pick of the Opta facts from Tuesday s action in the Premier League.

Man Utd close in on Liverpool 

— Premier League (@premierleague)

Brighton 0-1 Arsenal: Super-sub Lacazette inspires Arsenal

Alexandre Lacazette scored from the bench to make it back-to-back victories for Arsenal in the Premier League for the first time sinc…

Milan will go into the derby with Inter having suffered another early blip in the Scudetto race after being held to a 0-0 draw at Sassuolo.

The defending Serie A champions got back to winning ways at the weekend with a 2-0 victory over Bologna, having previously been held by Atalanta.

But they were not at their best on Tuesday in a game they would have lost had Mike Maignan not saved a first-half penalty from Domenico Berardi – the Italy international who later came off with a seemingly concerning injury.

It means Milan are still unbeaten with two wins and two draws from four games, but the stalemate offered Inter – along with the likes of Roma, Napoli and Lazio – the chance to leapfrog the Rossoneri in this round of midweek fixtures.

Milan u…

Toni Kroos has enjoyed one of the most garlanded careers in world football, but on Sunday he finally collected something rather less treasured than his many medals: a red card.

In his 634th competitive top-flight game at club level, Kroos was dismissed for the first time as Real Madrid were held 1-1 by Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Germany international had already been booked when he cynically fouled Aleix Garcia as Girona looked to break at speed in stoppage time.

That meant the 32-year-old had to go, with referee Mario Melero Lopez ordering him off.

Kroos played at the highest level in Germany for Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, where he had an 18-month loan spell early in his career.

After making his Bundesliga debut in 2007 and gra…

Newcastle United have been attempting to reel in expectations since their controversial owners arrived in the Premier League last October promising glory at home and in Europe within five to 10 years.

Head coach Eddie Howe has repeatedly refused to reveal a target for this season, while he spent the past week attempting to clarify comments on Newcastle s ambitions.

Long term, the club have huge plans and huge ambitions, Howe said after Jurgen Klopp congratulated Newcastle for having no ceiling . But at the moment, the reality of what we re working towards and working with, there is a ceiling.

Antonio Conte seemingly disagreed with Howe s assessment ahead of the Magpies visit to Tottenham on Sunday, however.

You have to consider Newcastle for the presen…

Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah is close to signing a new contract, according to . Quansah’s current deal with Liverpool runs until 2027, and the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners are keen on handing him fresh terms with a higher wage package.

The Times has noted that Newcastle United were interested in signing Quansah in the summer of 2024, but Liverpool did not want to let go of the 21-year-old centre-back. The youngster is now part of the first team at Liverpool and has also played six times for the England Under-21 international side.

Quansah has made one appearance each in the Premier Leauge and the Carabao Cup and also played four times in the FA Cup for Liverpool so far this season. The youngster made 13 starts and four substitute appear…

According to Fabrizio Romano, Aston Villa have reached an agreement with Chelsea over the transfer of Ian Maatsen. The Birmingham club will be paying a fee of £37.5 million for the services of the 22-year-old Netherlands international, who is currently representing his country at the Euros.

Maatsen spent the second half of the 2023/24 season on loan at Borussia Dortmund and played an important role as the Bundesliga side made it into the Champions League final. Dortmund were said to be keen to make the transfer permanent, but they were eventually put off by Chelsea s valuation of the young left-back. Aston Villa have obviously stepped in since and made the most of the situation.

At this point, Villa are discussing the personal terms of a contract with Maatsen and his r…

Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall said Chelsea will not provide a “mental obstacle” for his players ahead of their League Cup final showdown at Molineux on Sunday.

Chelsea, who are bidding to complete a quadruple in Emma Hayes’ last season in charge, beat the Gunners 3-1 in the Women’s Super League just a fortnight ago.

However, Arsenal did see off the Blues in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium in December, and were also victorious in last season’s League Cup final between the two sides.

Sunday marks our 10th final.

Let s do this together, Gooners

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC)

Chelsea, who booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals earlier this week, are the favourites to win at Molineux.

But speak…

Argentina captain Lionel Messi confirmed that Sunday s final against Morocco or France will be his last World Cup appearance as he seeks to bow out in style.

The 35-year-old played a leading role in Argentina s 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia with a goal and an assist.

Messi, a seven-time Ballon d Or winner, had previously indicated this would be his last World Cup finals, which he reinforced after Tuesday s triumph.

I am proud to be able to finish my World Cup journey playing this final, Messi told reporters. What I m experiencing is exciting. Sunday will be my last game in a World Cup.

It will be many years before the next one [2026] and I don t think I ll be able to make it, so I hope I can finish in the best way.

Messi s goal against Croati…